Hello, I’ve known about this site for a while, but I never thought to look for help here. I’m so lost. I am a certified medical technologist. I am currently working as new born photographer. Why because nobody will hire me without recent experience and because of a blood clot and complicated pregnancy there is a two almost three year gap in my employment history. Which brings me to my currents state of being lost, I want a career change. I would like to be a doctor. I took the MCAT my score were not good but I figure I can re take in time for next year. I was wondering if I need to get a master degree or some other post bachlor to up my grade average. I need a little help coming up with a plan? Any suggestion?
Hi nanyamka!
I would say that if your GPA is under 3.0 you probably do need to up your grade average. Otherwise…maybe.
Do you have two semesters of biology, general chem, organic chem, and physics with lab? Are they in the last 10 years? Have you had additional couses such as biochemistry, microbiology, immunology, genetics. If not, those are some of the courses you could do.
Third, I’d suggest a pretty formal MCAT prep. You want to retake MCAT in March or April next year in order to apply in June, if you have no courses to do. If you need to do courses, do that first, then study for MCAT, then take it, then apply.
You also want to be able to show volunteer involvement and shadowing physicians. If you have worked in a hospital environment the shadowing does not have to be as extensive but should be long enough so that the doctor you shadow can speak with some knowledge about you and your qualities that would make you a good doctor.
Hope that’s some stuff to get started with 
Kate
Welcome! This is definitely a good place to get advice without the criticism of other forums.
My suggestion is to begin shopping around for medical schools and get a good idea for what is out there, who accepts what GPA/MCAT average score, makeup of the student body, selectivity, and other factors that may influence or inspire a decision.
A good place to start is by going to a bookstore (Barnes & Nobel is good for this) and browsing the graduate school section. US News and World Report & Princeton Review medical school review books are great for getting a general snapshot, and generally (emphasis on the generality here) the kind of information that may help you determine what schools are accesible, or if you need to return to the pre-med grind and bump those stats up. I had ideas when I started, as a near-high school dropout, and shopping around in the review guides helped me to orient myself in a particular direction.
Also - are you familiar with D.O.s? Most definitely look into that course of action, as it could increase the number of options available to you.
Best of luck, and I hope you are blessed in your quest! We are all here for each other, so do not hesitate with the inquries.
-Justin